Special Ks 'pose threat to Tomic'

Sports writer for The Age

Bernard Tomic hangs his head after pulling out of his match with Rafael Nadal. Photo: AFP

Bernard Tomic could soon feel the hip-pocket pain of endorsement loss to match his teetering relationship with the Australian public, according to respected Australian commentator and coach Darren Cahill.

Cahill, the former coach of Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi, said on the day after Tuesday night's poorly received injury retirement against Rafael Nadal that Tomic could soon be overtaken by younger local talents Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis.

And although potentially costly, with Tomic's deals including Nike and Yonex, Cahill and former US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe believe the emergence of the pair nicknamed the Special Ks could ultimately be beneficial for the Queenslander in a motivational sense.

''This could be the best thing for him, because a lot of the contracts will start drying up if he has his ranking around 50, 60 at the end of this year, and with these young guns coming through, the attention will go to that next generation,'' said Cahill, who now works for ESPN.

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The 1988 Open semi-finalist said he watched Tomic's warm-up and while he did not question the legitimacy of the 21-year-old's groin injury, attributed the hostile crowd response to his retirement as ''the build-up of three or four years of frustration'' from the Australian public.

''Not [with] the way he plays in Australia, because it's always been very good, but what he does outside of Australia, and a lot of those matches he doesn't run out,'' Cahill said. ''And we struggle with that, as Australians, having that competitive instinct, and I think that's why the Australian public really have struggled to get behind him 100 per cent.

''Hewitt always leaves his heart and soul on the tennis courts. [With Tomic], it's a little bit like the boy who cried wolf: you have that sort of attitude all the time, and the one time you are injured and you should do the right thing and not play, everyone doesn't believe you.''

McEnroe, now the general manager of player development at the US Tennis Association, said he had already been impressed by the attitude of boom teen duo Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, who showed both heart and talent in first-round wins over far higher-ranked opponents at Melbourne Park.

''These guys seem to love the stage, love to be out there, and this could be - it could be - the best thing that could ever happen to Tomic, because he has showed flashes of brilliance on the court, especially down here,'' he said as part of the frank ESPN discussion.

''I said this after the match: 'any of these young guys coming up, if you don't do everything it takes, it's just not gonna happen' and I keep hearing Tomic say 'oh, I'm young'. You're not that young any more, buddy, you're not that young, you're 21, 22 …

''You see how far the bar has been raised with Nadal, Djokovic, with what they're doing, with what Serena's doing on the women's side now and that's a lot to have to live up to just to try to compete with them, and clearly Tomic hasn't done that.''

Chris Evert, the 18-time grand slam singles champion, claimed Tomic had hit ''rock bottom'', and had isolated himself not just from the Australian public, but his peers in the locker-room. ''I don't think he can get himself out of this hole by himself, he needs to have some really good people around him,'' said Evert, who suggested Hewitt could play a valuable mentoring role.

McEnroe said that ''the difference when Lleyton Hewitt came out as a 15-year-old was this guy was an animal, he would fight … the Australians pride themselves on effort, no matter what''. He also branded Tomic as an underachiever, based on his obvious ability.

''He hasn't dotted every i and crossed every t off the court, his training, his fitness, his regimen, his team around him, he's had a lot of chaos around him, and the reality is it's catching up to him a little bit,'' McEnroe said. ''Obviously if you get injured in the middle of the match, you're probably smart to pull out of the match, as he did, but the public here, they don't have a lot of trust in what he says and what he does, so I think that's why you heard the boos.''

Davis Cup coach Josh Eagle confirmed that a decision on Tomic's availability for Friday week's first-round world group tie in France will not be made until the weekend.

22 comments so far

It's disgusting to see this bullying happening before our eyes. These people should be ashamed of themselves. Tomic is a young man who doesn't owe anything to these malicious has-beens throwing vitriol at him [>> "the build-up of three or four years of frustration'' from the Australian public" <<]. He is living his own life and not bothering anyone else in doing so. It is pathetic that the enviable life his talent has brought him has caused envy against him as a person. There is also a strong, and most likely subconscious, cultural/ethnic theme to these attacks, which continually contrast Tomic with the "Australian way" and "Australians" [>> "we struggle with that, as Australians ... and I think that's why the Australian public..." <<]. The most pathetic of all is the continuing subtle expression of a wish for a schism and repudiation between Tomic and his dad [>> "He hasn't dotted every i and crossed every t off the court, his training, his fitness, his regimen, his team around him.." <<]. Putting aside the envy and the dime-a-dozen pathetic taunts that unfailingly come with that, the ethnic dimension is an unwise path for Australia to be taking on its journey of maturation as a society and one that will only see time wasted as Australia unavoidably welcomes a future as an increasingly multicultural and multiethnic land.

Commenter

Thomas Y

Location

Sydney

Date and time

January 17, 2014, 1:42AM

Why does every negative comment about Bernie have to racist or based on envy. I'm sorry Thomas, but this is a ridiculous comment and not even remotely close to anything resembling accurate.Darren Cahill's comment "the build-up of three or four years of frustration from the Australian public" is merely highlighting that tennis fans want to like Bernie and that we want a tennis champion to celebrate. Unfortunately for Bernie, his life outside of tennis captures more headlines than anything he's achieved on the court and tennis fans struggle to reconcile said behaviour when combined with perceived under performance. It has nothing to do with his ethnicity.With that said, you're spot on, it's his life and he can live it how he wants. However, I recall around this time last year, Bernie openly said in a press conference that he thought he was better than most of the players in the top 10. Well, 12 months later, he's still number 57 in the world and old man Hewitt, with his hip and ankles surgeries every over week, is still flighting away at no. 43.If you talk big, you need to deliver. So far he's failed to do that. Hopefully for the Australian public (yes, the Australian public - still not racist) it's not too late and the emergence of the 'Special K's' can help lift Aussie tennis back to where it belongs.

Commenter

AO

Location

Sydney

Date and time

January 17, 2014, 10:20AM

Thomas, he has talent but no real commitment in comparison to his tennis peers. His dad is a bully and a nasty piece of work. The further Tomic moves away from his dad, the more he will see that everyone else is right and he is wrong - he just isn't putting in the effort that he needs to if he wants to make the top 10, which is what he should be able to do with his talent.

There is no envy, no ethnic-related criticism, just valid points noting that he is too big for his boots at this stage.

Commenter

Misha

Location

Tumbi Umbi

Date and time

January 17, 2014, 10:48AM

Tennis (and other sports) is littered with players who fail to reach their full potential because family, particularly parents live vicariously through their exploits, and ultimately suffocate the player through their desire to live the dream..

When a player eventually emerges from that influence, often their window of opportunity has passed. Jelena Dokic is one such example. We love her and wish her well, but the horse has bolted. Time will tell whether the special K's will avoid the family trap, and be allowed to grow and succeed as players in their own right.

As a tennis fan, I deperately want Tomic to succeed, but unless he gives himself a good kick up the bum, and recognises that hard work and guts gets you there, not posing and whinging, then his window of opportunity will close. He should pay heed to the old saying - "It does not matter whether you win or lose, it is how you play the game." Bernard Tomic, let your tennis do the talking.

Commenter

Nonrev

Date and time

January 17, 2014, 11:08AM

Bullying, like head-butting your sons practice partner for example.

Commenter

Knackers

Date and time

January 17, 2014, 11:21AM

Sorry I can't buy the racism angle... If the Special Ks were Klein or Kershaw then you might have a point.The truth is Australians have a low toleration of @!@& heads. That's why we all loved rafter and only barely tolerated lleyton "c'mon" Hewitt.

Commenter

Adam west

Date and time

January 17, 2014, 11:44AM

@Thomas Y...

Interesting that you're complaining about people making rash judgements... and then you go ahead and do the same...

It's not racism... Racism is when you say "He doesn't show spirit because he is ... (insert race here)"...

Australia has been built on hard work and never give up spirit (at least we like to think so)... not just of white europeans but of all races...

Tomic is a soft whinger. Period. Nothing to do with his family's heritage.

Commenter

Michael

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

January 17, 2014, 11:48AM

Thomas Y, I find it sad that you see this as bullying, or in an way has an ethnic basis. Bernard Tomic has undoubted ability, but the commentary from the past players is more about his failure to turn this ability into meaningful results. Malicious has-beens is also disrespectful to players (admittedly from the past) who achieved a great deal more in their careers than this young man has done thus far. As a person of somewhat limited sporting abilities, it always saddens me that gifted individuals do not make the mist of their ability. I wish that as Bernard makes the best of his undoubted talents, he will earn corresponding respect.

Commenter

Les

Location

Fitzroy

Date and time

January 17, 2014, 12:09PM

Whilst I believe Tomic was right to pull out of the match with Nadal and that he genuinely had an injury, I completely empathise with the spectators showing their displeasure. In contrast to your apparent belief that Tomic got where he is by sheer force of will and talent, he has been amply supported by the Australian tax-paying public through Tennis Australia. It's not his ethnic background that has turned people against him - it's the fact that he comes across as arrogant, self centred and with a huge sense of entitlement, and has a history of behaviour that marks him out as being at best immature and annoying and at worst unpleasant. That has nothing to do with his ethnicity - it has to do with his behaving in a way that is immature, annoying and/or unpleasant.

Commenter

NotAFan

Date and time

January 17, 2014, 12:32PM

You don't seem to understand that Tomic has had many thousands of taxpayer dollars spent on him through Tennis Australia; overseas trips for experience &c. The public knows this , and expects a bit of effort for our money!!

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